Saturday morning Jaime and I met at 5am (which meant for a 4 o'clock-ish wake up time, not fun) to run 20 miles. We had headlamps, gloves (it was 41 degrees), hats/ear warmers, fuel and M.ace. Oh, and our blue crew attire (this week's theme was Colts). All in all, we were ready. Purposefully we saved up many stories from the last few weeks to fill the 3+ hours we'd be running together. We ran in the dark for 2.5 hours of our 3.5 hour run...not the most fun but it's the sacrifice we make in order to keep our long runs in and still have quality family time on the weekends. We run to stay sane and without these runs I'm pretty sure it wouldn't be pretty. Our husbands can attest to that, I'm sure.
One hour into the run and 6 miles later, we picked up Amy along the trail. Still dark. Still cold. But it was refreshing to have a warm body join us for fresh conversation and renewed energy. Amy is running Chicago next weekend and only had 8 tapered miles; she was thrilled to not have to wear a fuel belt for the first time in months! We talked about her excitement to run her first marathon and her taper madness she's going through. We ran three-wide on a dark and empty trail and I loved our chatter and pace.
Thirty minutes and 3 miles later we picked up Christi, Karen and Meghan in Bro.adripple. After a quick McD's pit stop for the potty, water and hand blowers to warm us up we were off. Initially we ran two by two, three deep and once it got light out we ran three wide and I was wishing I had a camera to capture the fall leaves and my good friends doing what I love. The girls then brought up the recent passing of Mono.n Bob...conversation quickly became an homage to him by sharing fond memories. Our tears turned into laughter when we decided the COG we see each week running with his jeans pulled chest high should be groomed to take over where MB left off. No more than 2 miles later we saw the COG and we hollered our hellos. We love him and we want him to know it. Heart. Melts.
We hugged Amy & Christi and then Meghan & Karen goodbye, wishing everyone luck. Then it was back to Jaime and I for the final 2 miles. Alone. Heavy legs. Counting down the quarter miles, then the tenth miles until we reached our finish. I would liken my last mile to a 20-mile-shuffle, barely making forward progress. My mood brightened when Jaime recalled how we used to sprint the last quarter mile or so during half marathon training. I smiled. Then groaned. There was no sprint left in me. I'm truly hoping we have some friends out there that can run with Jaime and I for miles 20-25, when we need support the most. So if there are any takers out there...consider this my begging. We'll buy you a drink at the finish. Because the Perfect Strangers will be doing some serious day drinking after we finish in just 5 short weeks.
Speaking of day drinking...Mike and I left two napping girls with our gracious neighbors so we could partake in a little day drinking at the Rat.hskellar for Ale Yeah. We ran into many friends (including fellow Perfect Stranger runner Meghan who was a generous beer pourer!) and enjoyed several hours of drinking in the sunny beer garden.
Me with BoMFers Beth & Lindsey
This rainbow was in our backyard and I've never seen a more perfect rainbow in my life. The girls got a kick out of it.
Just one more week until Izzy's birthday and a super secret trip with a super bestie. Stay tuned!
0 comments :
Post a Comment